Shrew-d Moves

The dust has been flying around here lately!  While Todd is working on installing a subfloor upstairs...

...I have been discovering my unexpected love of wallpaper installation.  Pre-pasted, paste the paper, paste the wall...I have all of the types, and I am greatly enjoying them all.  Upstairs, I have a nature-themed paper...

If you look closer, you can see the blackberries, foxgloves, rabbits, and hedgehogs.  LOVE.

Because of the odd angles of the slanted walls and tiny doorways, I'm doing a lot of cutting and pasting to keep the patterns straight.  It's just like working a puzzle and therefore, right up my alley!

Downstairs, we've got rabbits in the bathroom...

...and the kitchen is nearly done.  It was tiled last week...

...and I spent at least 2 full days with the wallpaper.  There were so many little nooks and crannies around the sink that had to be custom cut.  But I absolutely adore the wallpaper, even though it's not quite an exact match to the trim.  Close enough.  It's hard to get a good picture in this early morning light, but you get the idea!  It's a William Morris pattern from 1876. 

We installed a new snail door knocker, whose long antennae will poke out an eye if you aren't careful.  We're going to cut those down a little bit and possibly replace the entire door.  A name plaque has been ordered to cover the hole left by the previous (personalized) door knocker. 

I've sanded down all of our cheapo '70s hollow core interior doors...

...and am in the process of installing beadboard and painting.

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, because we will be moving in the rest of our things from storage after the floor is laid down upstairs.  I'll be so glad to have my craft supplies back, though.  And framed wall pictures, and summer bedding, and the list goes on. 

I've squeezed in some outside work, completely filling the newly-created front bed with perennials from an amazing sale I found last week.

The plants are severely pruned here, but hopefully they'll give a good show in late summer and certainly next year.

I had some nice company in the garden while I worked.  At first I thought I was seeing moles...

...but they were so much quicker than moles, and they were eating fallen seeds from the feeders.  Moles are insectivores and don't eat seeds.  I did a little research and discovered that we have a few SHREWS!  My photo at bottom, versus the confirmed shrew picture at the top.  

Shrews are SO interesting.  Their hearts can beat up to a thousand times per minute, and they are understandably voracious eaters.  If they miss a meal, they can die (I've experienced this problem myself, as Todd can attest)!  Shrews are also venomous and a single shrew has enough venom to kill 200 mice!  Humans are too large, though, to experience anything more than pain from a shrew bite.  There are endless YouTube videos about shrews fighting (and defeating) snakes, scorpions, frogs, chipmunks, and many other creatures.  Theodore Roosevelt kept a pet shrew and noted, "Certainly a more bloodthirsty animal of its size I've never seen!" They have pointy, red-tipped teeth (red because of iron deposits)...talk about an appropriate look! 

(photo credit John Rochester, Flickr)

Yes, they tunnel, but they also eat a great deal of garden pests.  For the moment, I'm glad to have shews around!

I spent hours and hours weed-eating around the perimeter of the barnyard last week.  It was nice to see the white barn again...it had been half-covered with weeds...but we've just been too busy to get back there and get the work done. 

Now we can see some of the fencing that has to be replaced next year!  This is one of the worst areas, but at least we aren't needing to keep anything fenced in right now.

While plowing through 6 ft tall weeds, I nearly destroyed this tiny nest, even though I'd tried to be intentional about going slow and giving lots of "notice" for wildlife (mainly snakes) to move along.

Thankfully I stopped in time, but I was worried that I'd removed its protective cover.  The nest was still about 2 feet off the ground, but was completely exposed.  I've been checking it, though.  On weeding day, there were 2 eggs.  A week later, there are four!  I'm excited to watch this spot for new babies!

Borga is enjoying our brief moments of sunshine during this rainy spell...

...and the cats are passing through our noisy construction time by staying close and taking lots of naps.

They'd better get used to it, though.  Many months of construction ahead.

Have a great week! 

[red wing black] bird is the word

We're in!  Now, I don't mean that we're living in the house...not for another couple of weeks, I think.  We still have to paint and pull up/replace carpet.  But the lawn is mowed, the front beds are weeded, and our daily trips there are taking on a pleasing regularity as we settle into some sort of a schedule.

I've spent nearly as much time working outside in the beds as inside, painting.  I filled 4 garbage bags with weeds from the front beds, clipped the shrubs, and took lots of pictures. 

There's a lilac blooming!  It smells amazing.

There aren't a lot of perennials, just a shabby rose bush (red...shudder), some hostas, a nice spread of creeping thyme, and one of the largest bleeding heart plants I've seen!

You can see why they're called bleeding hearts...see the shape of the tiny flowers?

There's a gorgeous apple tree blooming in the side yard, too. 

The former (!!) homeowner told us that the tree in the front yard was a pear tree, but I knew that it was some sort of maple.  But I'd never seen one this color...and she said that the leaves stayed maroon.

I did a little research and discovered that it's a Royal Red Norway, and that the leaves will turn a deep red in the fall.  I can't wait! 

It's not all manicured lawns and pretty beds, though.  The barnyard is a mess.

The grass is mowed every 2 weeks, so at least that is tidy, but the chicken coop is an absolute disaster.  I asked Todd if we should just tear it down and build a new one, but he said that the foundation is great and the current coop can be repaired.  He's an optimist!  :)  It's a nice size, though, and I'm willing to do it if it can be done.  

The fences are in need of repair all over the property, and after our recent survey showed that they don't even follow the property line, have decided to just replace them next year.  This year, they're going to look tatty and weed-lined, unfortunately.  

I found a nice picture of the animal barn online recently...

But it does not look like that now!  

It's structurally sound, but has not been used for years.  This photo is from March, but it's even worse now, with huge weeds growing up all around it.  Big rusty coils of wire are scattered around...old doghouses and coolers...brush from a fallen tree in a haphazard pile...it's kind of a mess.  The pastures, too, are already overgrown with weeds, so much so that I'm afraid to walk through them for fear of stepping on a snake.  We have to have it bush-hogged later this summer, but unfortunately, it's going to remain a mess until we tackle this whole area next year.  So for now, I'm trying to look OVER the barns at the nice rolling hills behind them...

...or in FRONT of the barns, in the fenced pasture where I'm planning some fruit/nut trees and a large flower and vegetable garden...

...instead of directly at the big mess behind them.  A weed trimmer will take care of some of the fence jumble, but I'm already planning a trip to our new neighbors' house to apologize for the temporary eyesore!  Our lawn mower guy had a great recommendation for the fields:  "Get some goats."  We can't wait!  

Meanwhile, we're enjoying the undisputed leader of the bird cacophony at the property...the red-wing blackbird.  They're so pretty and have a beautiful call that has apparently been translated into conk-la-reeee!  ;)  They are EVERYWHERE.

It takes me a long time to attach to things and places, but I had a funny urge this morning to drive over to the property with a book to enjoy the sunrise on the front porch with a steaming cup of tea (note to self:  MUST learn to like tea!).  It's a great space to sit...

...and I've already added the first bouquet, all with flowers from the property...in a red Solo cup!  :)

It's not "home" yet...but it's a great start.

Have a nice week!